Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Hey! So I am kicking off the season of shows with an intimate trunk show with Chez Marie. The show was by invitation only (as requested by the coordinator and owner of the space). It will be all women and a variety of ages, from early twenties to fifties. I will have pics for you guys because I have started a new display format...I picked up some awesome vintage suitcases and my Mom is helping me to distress some newer wooden jewelery caddies. Fun stuff.On another note, the first trade show I will be doing is The NewNew'sHandmade Cavalcade in Tribeca on Dec.6th...check out this fabulous graphic flyer designed by Jamie Boyle Ibrahim of bluestitchbooks.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Hey Ladies on the mailing list and Yin Yee (VIP), here are the new items not yet listed for Pre Sale November. Enjoy!The only item claimed thus far is the multi pearl strands with the green chandelier piece, that is for Yin Yee.

Friday, November 14, 2008

I loooove adding tags to each design I produce. I always like to use something with a handmade look, the older the better. A nice application of decay always helps. I purchased some hand died tags back in September. They are dyed with coffee and also stamped with a vintage looking crown. They smell really nice too! I stamp the reverse with my business stamp, also, I add a vintage brass fleur de lys on it and tag my luxe line of products. Here's an example:another:

Oh my goodness...just when I thought I was over HBO series'...I discovered Summer Heights High yesterday while visiting my parents (who have HBO) and I am addicted. I was hysterical!!! This guy is just too much. I need real comedy in my life...or is my life real comedy? Either way, this is one of those shows that will have a cult following...or does it already? I am always late.xo

Monday, November 10, 2008

Thanks Miss Love-Cobain for the love and blogging about me! I told her that calling me "genius" means I can prove to my family I am somebody-hahahhaa!!!! Miss love certainly picked some of my favorites, and I hope she enjoys them, and I hope even more so she continues being inspired on for her new album dropping in January. Visit her at courtneylove.com or her Myspace.Big shout out to the other two Etsy sellers she gives C-Love love to!!!

Mary and Nabil took us to "downtown" Portland, Maine where Nabil had to make some deals on the docks for the lobster he would later bestow upon us. Sadly, I would partake in their demise...as a first time lobster killer, I was a bit sad and guilt ridden after hearing tales that you can sometimes hear the lobsters "scream" when thrown in a pot....Anyway, forgive me if you can, Arian told me to remember that they are "sea roaches" and that will help me get over it...it did. I must say Portland is exactly what I thought New England would be, it's soooo cute and a drunkerd/college kid/beer lovers' dreamland chock full of BEER, breweries, bars and more places to buy beer. I don't drink, neither do Nabil and Mary, but Arian enjoys an occasional swig. "When in Maine, do as Mainers do." and so he got a taste of some Geary's ale along with his "lobstah", and I think it was safe to say he was getting his Maine on. Portland is full of quaint, lovely shops and boutiques without the bougieness. One shop I just fell in love with, they had everything from shoes to babywear, but not saturated with any one thing...I don't recall the name, but I will always remember it.We snapped some pics on the docs in front of the "Bait Shack" and also near a park in the center of the shoppes, was a time piece store! Wait until you see the sign they have. I am a total steampunk nut, and this thing is so cool, I wanted to grab it and put in my living room. Another thing that was so interesting during the whole experience was that the mood was set by fog and overcast, and in the dampness, surrounded by the brew and boats, I imagined the days when this land was just cultivating, revolting and booming with industry...Look at how far we have come. I am a first generation born American, Nabil has arrived roughly 2 years ago from Rahbat, Arian second generation American on one side and descended from slaves on the other, Mary tracing her roots to this land for so many generations, and we were all their on those New England docks like the Americans we all are...I was moved, with the election results spinning in my head and my own visions of witches and hoop skirts.

There is a picture that basically can sum up what we did this weekend. Arian, the babies and I packed up and headed up north Friday morning to Portland, Maine where two of our best friends call home. Mary Robbins Sibouih of Moth Design and her wonderful husband Nabil were gracious enough to host us for a fabulous time! We were greeted with love, smiles, tea, home baked cookies (like two dozen with lots of chips!) and we feasted on lobster, and home made chowder...or "chowdah". We had never been to Maine before and we have been really wanting to go and get out of the city this year, and it seemed that fall with all the beautiful leaves and change would be opportune. We had a blast, but let me give you a few details that left me so inspired from the trip.Mary and Nabil have a real love story. To sum it up, Mary was an art student at NYU and got a chance to travel to India, Senegal and Morocco where she had a host family and taught English, Nabil was part of that host family, and for a long while they equally looked past one another as nothing more then host brother and American sister so to speak...as time progressed something began to bloom and it was their love...anyhow, after living together in Morocco and Turkey, the journey has brought them back to Mary's hometown of S. Portland and to the house that raised her father and his siblings, which she and the Nabster (as I affectionately dub him), now own.

What a house. Built in 1916, it's beautiful, spooky and full of treasures...old fading books, advertisements on chipping wood boxes, her grandmother's costume jewels, creaky wood floors, spirits and hints of Rahbat. We were basically in love with this house, as if its natural way wasn't fantastic enough Mary has added her creativity and splashed it all around, with a retro, mod spin, primary colors and funk all around...this place runnith over with nostalgia. Take a look at a few pics I snapped....The deer head oversees all the procedures in the moth studio! If you notice all the old cameras, that's from Mar's grandfather who was into film. How about that sewing machine?? To die for. Alot of the antiques in the house still function.

The Hand of fatima Etsy Shop

The Curious Dr. Blume

About Me

Mariam Aryai Rivera is my name...and these are the tales of a jewelery designer chasing antiques, children and dreams. Welcome, I wish I could offer you a warm cup of tea with honey, and play us some sweet tunes.
I'm from New York City, I design and handcraft jewelry for those intrigued by the past, its stories, people and secrets. All my work is created in a loving environment across from one of the oldest, historic, Victorian cemeteries in the city, that was founded as a result of overcrowding dead bodies in the downtown burial grounds from typhoid, cholera and smallpox. I'm sure this coincidence has influence on my aesthetic a bit. All my work is crafted from antique and vintage elements and are one of a kind or with few exceptions, extremely limited edition. My environmental policy is clear I hope- reduce, reuse, rejuvenate. xoxox